Phở Tâm — Restaurant in Niles Township

Chef's special OXTAIL pho delicious!!!!! Must try!!

Came on a Saturday evening around 6:30. We were seated immediately and we ordered the oxtail pho which is the chef's special, beef pho with all the meats and tripe, spring rolls, and chicken lemongrass banh mi, and Thai iced tea.

The oxtail pho was so tender and falling off the bone! The oxtail was super flavorful and I absolutely devoured it!! The broth was semi sweet (not overly just the right amount of sweetness) and hints of cinnamon. You will have to get in there to pull the meat off which falls off instantly as it's so tender or you can just bite it off but it was easier for me to use my hands so it can be a little messy but it was delicious and I'd order it again! Highly highly recommend!!

The beef pho had a more savory flavored broth. All the meats were good and the tripe was very tender. Highly recommend if you want a more savory meaty broth!

The thing I like about both of these broths was that they weren't overly salty. We have been to so many pho restaurants especially in Chicago since that's where we live and I got to say this place beats all of them! We drove an hour to get here because this place was highly recommended and it was well worth the drive!

The spring rolls were plated beautifully and absolutely delicious! The lettuce was green and vibrant and not wilty and had a nice crunch to it as it should. Even the Thai basil and bean sprouts were fresh, we've gone to pho places in Chicago where the basil is black and wilted and the bean sprouts are browning and not as crisp but here they were not and even the limes were juicy and not dry or hard.

The Thai iced tea was absolutely perfect and exactly how I wanted it to taste! I liked that they served it in a cute glass mason jar.

The chicken lemongrass banh mi was just okay. I wouldn't recommend or order it again. The chicken was cold and didn't have lemongrass flavor like the menu described. I've had lemongrass chicken banh mi in Chinatown at Joyee Plus in Chicago and I gotta say it tastes better there where the chicken is warm and really tastes like lemongrass but here the chicken was cold and lacked flavor didn't really taste like anything. It was underwhelming and just okay.

The ambiance in this restaurant is elegant and almost like fine dining with cloth napkins and nice table place setting. The bathrooms are extremely clean and the staff is super professional and accommodating.

The male server there was very kind, polite, and accommodated us when we ordered the wrong pho and he was able to switch it to the one we wanted! Really appreciate that and because of that great customer service I will definitely be returning and is the reason I gave 5 star rating otherwise I would have given 4 bc I wasn't a fan of the bahn mi sandwich. Customer service means everything to me especially when I'm dining in and spending a lot of money.

Overall, all the food was plated aesthetically and good quality. For everything it was $74. That covered two pho, appetizer (spring rolls), one thai iced tea and the bahn mi sandwich. This place is pricier than pho restaurants in Chicago but I will admit the quality of the food is exceptional and the customer service top tier!!!

It did get busier around 7/730pm so if you don't want to wait come earlier around 4-6pm.

I will return if I'm ever in the area. FYI they do have...

I’ve been to this establishment quite a few times and it improved a lot from when they first opened. The flavor started off too sweet when they first opened and now it’s much more balanced. It’s a great pho spot in the Northshore if you don’t feel like driving into the city. It’s my main go to whenever I’m craving pho. The portion size and broth is good and you will leave warm and full. It is on the pricey side and it’s kind of a bummer they don’t have the “special” that has all the meats, but I get it. I do like the ability to choose my own meats but I am less inclined to choose more than two because that’s already $15.50 for just two meats. Their chicken wings are pretty good but be ready for sticky fingers and smelling like fish sauce after - I do wish it was a tad more crunchy though. Great spring rolls and egg rolls. Thai ice tea is not bad either. My partner likes their bahn-mi and we still want to try other options on their menu for sure. We love their pho so it’s our go to spot especially during these winter months.

My only complaint would be the service. It might be a good idea for them to implement the Korean table side service button. I go alone often during lunch time and I honestly feel like I get forgotten about every time. I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they are just busy most of the time, but usually I feel like I am invisible. I have to wait to make eye contact with a server in order to get service.

Today I felt especially unnoticed . I sat and did not get a menu until a server noticed she forgot about me and I appreciated that she apologized. However, no one came up to check on me, refill my water, or give me napkins. Then a server walked right past me and saw I was done eating and kept walking so I had to stop her to ask for a check. I just went up to pay at the front as I didn’t want to wait for them to notice my CC is on the table. I like to think I’m a pretty patient person but after a certain Time threshold, I do get a little antsy. The only people who’ve I had good service and experience with were the owners before they started hiring. Maybe the servers just need more training or to get assigned to certain tables to focus on only. I don’t know if it’s only me who experiences this but I hope it doesn’t happen to other solo diners.

I still do recommend you go there to support their small business as their pho/food is tasty. They have not lost me as a customer due to this but today was disheartening. I don’t generally like to write reviews like this, but I hope this does make a difference in...

Recently heard about Phở Tâm from friend. Opportunity knocked when we came to H-Mart for grocery shopping. It was late in the day and we were hungry so Phở Tâm for dinner. From outside, Phở Tâm look like a "Brown Chicken" restaurant with rectangular one-story building with low ceiling and ample parking (30+ spaces) all around; except this building has humongous sign "Phở Tâm", facing Dempster street. Nothing special to attract the eyes from the outside, beside lot of parking spaces. May be once business pick up, owner can do something to outside appearance. If we didn't heard from friend then we would drove by without stop. First impression always count. Anyway, we walked through the door and met by waitress (I'm sorry, I forgot her name) in clean attire and hair tied to the back with pleasant smile and courteous greeting "Welcome to Phở Tâm. Would you like to enjoy your dinner by window view table?". Wow! I thought. This gal is good. She used words "welcome/enjoy/dinner/view" right on spot to described and separated Phở Tâm from other Vietnamese's restaurant. Most of time I only heard those words from high class restaurant. Those words from waitress indicated owner do diligence work not to the food but also to select team member. Looked at menu, the "Create Your Own Bowl of Pho" is a good choice. I don't want lot of meat nor whole bunch of stuff in my bowl. I select only those I want and pay for those. Why waste hard earn money on thing you don't want to eat? The phở broth was excellent. I don't need to put "Hoisin Sauce - tương ăn phở" into my bowl. Few lemon drops and broth smell and taste delicious. Owner and other waiter/waitress randomly walked to table and small talk with customer. I heard about limited number of phở bowl available each day. Once finish one has to come back next day for phở. Interesting concept! I also heard about special appetizers "cánh gà chiên nước nắm - fish sauce wings". We will definitely come back to check it out. Nam -...